Former Scotland international Stephen O’Donnell has been full of praise for his fellow countryman, Kieran Tierney.
The two men played together at the last Euros which took place in the summer of 2021, after it was delayed a year following the pandemic. The Motherwell man knows all about the marauding defender and was waxing lyrical about the former Hoops full-back recently.
As reported by Football Scotland, the man who shone against England at the same tournament a few years ago, said: “Kieran, if he stays fit, is one of the best full-backs in the world, without question. He is a top player, a top guy and if he is playing we will certainly be a better outfit with him. He has great qualities. I still found it a bit strange what happened to him at Arsenal. Obviously, I wasn’t there, but he was one of their players of the year the season before and then he goes out on loan [to Sociedad].”
“When he first broke through at Celtic he was incredible and to then move on and go where he’s been is great. At one point he was linked with Real Madrid and that was maybe a ‘what if’ moment if he managed to stay fit, but you can’t have everything. I’m honestly really delighted to see him back and see him going to the Euros. Hopefully we see him kick on.”
Whilst it’s undeniable that Tierney possesses world-class attributes and his commitment to the cause is on another level, even with the reputed £10 million fee Arsenal have supposedly stuck on his head, Celtic have to weigh up if its worth the outlay for a player who might not be available for selection regularly. His injuries started at Celtic Park and many have accused the club of a dereliction of duty in not buying adequate cover for the player when he was here. As a result, he suffered the same fate as Callum McGregor and was asked to play continuously over a 60 or 70 game season, sometimes for club and country.
Thus, we face a dilemma of whether or not to plough that kind of money into a possible deal for Tierney, whilst we could invest it in another up-and-coming talent who has no injury history akin to our former star. Moreover, the money could be used for investment into other parts of the team too, to strengthen our hand when we face-off on all four fronts both at home and abroad once again.
Paul Gillespie
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